


Northern Lights

by MissingFire



Category: Borderlands
Genre: Domestic Violence, Falling In Love, M/M, Modern AU, i'm sorry i suck at tags, jack is an ass, northern lights au, not much i promise
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-10-15
Updated: 2016-07-19
Packaged: 2018-04-26 12:06:41
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,601
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5004202
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MissingFire/pseuds/MissingFire
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Axton moves away from his past to become a state trooper in Alaska, and finds someone that may be the answer to what he's been looking for. But when he's called out to a domestic disturbance at the estate of one of the state's richest business men, what he finds may make him think differently about the state, and man, he's starting to love.<br/>Set in my personal modern AU this story follows Axton and Rhys as they fall in love, and deal with the problems that come with their actions.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chance Meeting

**Author's Note:**

> So here it is! Sorry that the first chapter is so short but the others will be longer I promise.  
> As usual a huge thank you to my wonderful beta, but also to AshesTheTerrible and karfishylicious for the continued help and support on this work.  
> Enjoy!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Between Alaska's early summer sunrises and the many rain storms that never have thunder, Axton seems to be having a crappy day. I had so much fun writing this chapter~  
> So here it goes, hope you all enjoy! Let me know what you thing!

The feeling of the hot water against his back almost had him singing praises to whoever might be listening up above. The night had been a long one for the department: a couple small meaningless calls, some false alarms of break ins, one actual break in, and a few various stops for broken tail lights. It seemed that unless it was the middle of summer in this town, nothing interesting ever happened that the police force was actually needed for. In his opinion, most of the rookies could probably handle themselves just fine without the seasoned cops watching over them.

With a sigh he opened his eyes against the steam in the small shower and grabbed the soap, his muscles protesting slightly from the small chase he had gotten into that night. Of course the one break in that wasn't a false alarm had ended with him having to chase the culprit through a few back yards and over a couple of fences. And the asshole didn't even have the courtesy to make it an easy take-down; a few bruises were bound to blossom on his chest from the couple of punches he had taken.

"All in the life of a state trooper." Chuckling softly, he finished washing off and stepped out of the shower, shivering at the chill of the tiles on the bottom of his feet. Padding over to mirror, he raised an eyebrow, fighting the urge to strike a pose and stare at himself for a bit. Huh. He was just too tired to even admire himself in the mirror; maybe this was a sign to start hitting the gym more. The small town life was starting to get to him, threatening to make him go soft around the edges.

Chuckling softly again, he grabbed a towel and dried off quickly; the slight autumn chill had finally found its way indoors and frankly, he hated being cold. A few minutes and some loose fitting sweatpants later, he was ready to hit the bed and sleep off the ache that he was starting to feel in the tips of his fingers. Tackling the suspect earlier that night had taken a larger toll on his body than he had originally thought, and suddenly the gym was more than a simple joke in his mind. With a sigh he fell onto his bed, enjoying the feeling of the soft pillows almost as much as he had enjoyed the warm shower. Pulling the blanket over his body, he hissed sharply at the feeling: of course it had been sitting next to the window and of course it was now cold.

"Blankets are supposed to be warm and friendly," he mumbled into his pillow as his eyes slowly started to close. "This is a betrayal of my trust..."

~

 

The next morning brought nothing more than another cold blanket and interrupted dreams. Keeping his eyes closed, Axton groaned, wanting to pull the blanket up over his head to avoid the sunlight that was streaming through the open window and hitting him squarely in the face. Most of his mornings started this way: cold and lonely, with the sun letting him know that the whole world would be against him yet again.

Cracking open his eyes, he sighed; the bright light was something he always hated. Of course he would have decided to move up here after the divorce. One of the only departments that would take him just happened to be in Alaska, and of course it had to be one of the cities that saw way too much sunlight in the summer.

At least the winters were nice. The sun went down around four and didn't show up until after he was up and ready in the morning.

Taking a deep breath, Axton opened his eyes fully and slowly sat up, groaning at the sting of the bruises that he had forgotten completely about. Never again, never again would he let a culprit get the upper hand like last night. Throwing his legs over the edge of the bed, he vaulted forward, working through the ache as his muscles protested against the movement.Throwing his arms into the air he stretched, hissing when the movement pulled on the bruises as they moved with his muscles. At least today was his day off. And he fully planned to spend it by grabbing some coffee and going to the gym, and maybe some fine tuning on the jeep in the garage. Maybe.

~

The rain hit the windshield of the black jeep as it slowed down to a stop at the red light. The traffic was terrible, people seeming to forget how to drive when it rained, and Axton could feel his mood slowly darkening the closer he got to the gym. He had woken up to the sun, but as soon as he had wanted to do anything it decided to hide and open the floodgates to a huge rain storm. _I never thought I would miss the sound of thunder..._

The thought drifted away as the light turned green and Axton pushed on the gas a little too hard, the jeep leaping forward with a loud growl as the water on the ground fought against it. _This day is shit. Absolute shit._ Pulling off of the gas slightly he sighed, wanting to be at the gym already and working off the stress that the morning had already brought.The few traffic lights before the turn off for the gym were thankfully green as Axton drove through them, his mood slowly improving as the day started to work in his favor. Taking the turn to the gym off of the busy road into the quiet parking lot, Axton let a sigh slip through his lips as he parked in front of the doors. Closing his eyes, he turned the jeep off, taking a deep breath as he opened the door.

It was so damn wet. Everything. Silently sending a million curses up to the sky, Axton slammed the door, his gym bag having been grabbed and slung over his shoulder just a few seconds before. As long as nothing else happened his day would be fine. The bell above the door chimed as he opened it, enjoying the heat and slight smell of sweat as the warm air rushed through the entry way to engulf him. With a small wave to the young woman at the counter Axton swiped his card and started to walk towards the locker room-

"Excuse me sir? You need to renew your membership."

Looking down Axton finally noticed the small red light on the door, the small beep reaching his ears as he looked up to the ceiling and bit back the words resting in his mouth. Of course, today just had to get worse. "And I'm going to bet that you don't know how to do that sweetheart?" Looking over at the girl, he nodded when her pained expression gave him the answer he was expecting.

"I'll wait here. Go get whoever it is you need."

Walking across the small entryway, Axton fell into one of the hard chairs with a huff. The day was getting worse, and at this point it was going to take a miracle to make it better. Shifting slightly as his back started to scream at the position he was in, he looked to the ceiling again, this time closing his eyes as he prepared for the long wait ahead. The last time he had needed to renew his membership it had taken most of the day, and the people working had had to call their manager in. _Well shit._

~

Barely a few minutes later another man stumbled through the doors from the downpour outside, his jacket soaked and the hood barely keeping any of the rain from hitting his face. Glancing at him out of the corner of his eye, Axton hummed softly as he took in the long legged figure. _Well damn._ Smiling slightly, he adjusted his body again as he avoided the stare from the desk girl, who had somehow come back into the room without a sound.

"Oh thank god you're here. I don't know how to work the computers and that gentleman has been waiting for a few minutes to renew his membership!"

Looking at the girl, the man stopped in the middle of the room and stared at her, but she simply pouted as he sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Really Mel? How many times am I going to have to show you?"

Blushing, Mel shrugged and leaned across the counter, seemingly forgetting how panicked she had been moments before. "Well now you can show me again."

Holding back a snort, Axton watched the interaction, Mel's sudden change in behavior making the newcomer move away from her as quickly as he could towards the back room. _Poor guy, he has too nice of an ass to put up with girls like that._ Listening to the soft music, Axton sighed and stood up, grabbing his wallet from his duffle bag as he walked forward and throwing it on the counter. "Now that he's here, do you at least know how to pull somebody up on the computer?"

Batting her eyelashes, Mel giggled softly as she ran her fingers across the monitor, bringing up the sign in page and typing in her info quickly. "Card?" She asked, holding her hand out towards Axton as he started to pull it from his wallet.

"Let me do it Mel, he's been waiting long enough." Grabbing the card before she could, the man was typing away at the computer, having appeared and moved her out of the way before either of them could react. Shrugging again, Axton let his card slide out of his hand, using that moment to take in the sight before him.

His eyes traced the soft lines of the man's face, resting on his eyes for a bit before making a mental note to ask how much gel he had to use on his hair each morning. Laughing silently at the few stray autumn locks that had already escaped to drape down over his forehead, Axton shook his head slightly before realizing that he had been asked a question. "Sorry, come again?"

"Another year again, _officer_?"

"Sure doll, sounds great." Winking at the two behind the counter, Axton slipped his card out of his wallet and handed it to them, his day improving a little bit each time he was able to look at more of the man standing before him. The long legs, the slim build, nice hair, that _ass_ , and everything else just wrapped up into a little ball of _sass_.

He loved it.

"Rhys."

The response drew Axton out of his daydream quickly, his surprise showing across his face as he stared at the man. "I'm sorry?"

"The name is Rhys. Not doll."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to the amazing [beta](http://rpkitkat.tumblr.com/) that somehow always seems to make my thoughts look nice. Without her this fic probably wouldn't see the light of day!  
> As always you can find me at [my tumblr](http://quietlysinningtrash.tumblr.com/) for more small drabbles and random ideas!


	2. Puppies~

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just a filler chapter as I try and decide if I know the direction I want to take with this AU, and if I can find time to start writing it again! Enjoy some Axton and his corgis (cause I fucking love corgis). No beta for this, so please be kind!

The next few days flew by for Axton, leaving a mixture of happy thoughts and time on the clock filling his time easily. His days had been uneventful, not even a single emergency call coming his way, and the bruises from his last night on duty fading quickly away.  
And yet he couldn't get the thought of that Rhys kid at the gym out of his head. He had gone back the day after, only to be greeted by Mel and a shrug of the shoulders when he asked if Rhys was going to be in that day. 'He called in sick, said he'd be back in a few days.' The days after that had been a constant cycle of curiosity and disappointment mixed in with a workout more intense than normal.  
So maybe not all happy thoughts. More constantly thinking about if that damned kid was ever going to show back up and show him he wasn't dead.   
"God dammit!" Standing up Axton threw the wench he had been holding back into his tool box, irritation running through him to the point of making any sort of work intolerable. "Bullshit, utter bullshit. Can't go one fucking day without worrying about some smart ass from my gym god DAMMIT."   
Walking out of the garage he slammed the door, yet again disappointed when it did nothing to help with the anger slowly building up in him. Starting down the hallway he paused, his phone going off in his pocket with a familiar ringtone that could only mean one thing.  
"I'm late again aren't I?" His words were met with quiet laughter quickly followed by frantic barking. "Yes sir, not that we don't mind having them! We just, they know what time it is and we can only clean our windows so much until they're permanently covered in smudges!"  
"I'll be right there, I'm so sorry!"  
"Not a problem Mr. Jones, your boys will be here waiting for you!"  
Grabbing his keys Axton smiled slightly, his anger quickly forgotten at the thought of spending his next few days off with his little boys. Just a short drive, then two days full of kisses and lazy days on the couch.  
**  
"There's my boys! Oh look at you, daddy missed you ohmygosh look at you I missed you comehereyouadorablelittlefluffballs." Laughing along with the receptionist Axton waved at the two bouncing dogs that had spotted him through the windows when he entered, barking crazily as they pawed at the glass separating them.   
Turning to the gal behind the desk again Axton smiled, relieved that they knew him well enough by now to not freak out when he was late. "Thank you again, I'm not sure how I lost track of time so badly...again."  
"It's really not a problem Mr Jones, we understand how much you do for our communities around here, a few minutes here and there is nothing we can't do!"  
"Thank you again." Handing her his card Axton turned to his boys, not noticing the gal putting his card right back onto the counter without swiping it through the system. His mind was on grabbing the two leashes from his pockets and getting through the door to his boys.  
As soon as the door was open the two corgis galloped towards him, the sound of wight tiny feet on tile making Axton laugh as he dropped down on one knee, ready to accept the eager kisses of his boys. Within seconds he was covered in two bouncing bodies, eagerly shaking as they whined and nuzzled on their dad. "I know boys I missed you too, oh just look at you Turret, gaining a little weight there buddy? And Bullet, geez you're heavy too holy shit." Standing up chuckling he snapped his fingers, trying not to laugh as both of the boys fell silent and stood at attention.   
Reaching down again Axton attached the clasps of each leash to the leather collars of the silent pups. After standing up straight he looked at them, watching as the fluff on their behinds shook with the effort of staying proper and good until he gave the sign.  
"Okay pups let's go." The twins barked excitedly again, eager to get out the door and back to their house, and maybe sleep up on the bug bed because the week had been long and simply exhausting.  
Grabbing his card on the way out Axton blew a kiss and another frantic 'thank you' over his shoulder at the lovely receptionist, letting the boys drag him slightly to not hurt their tiny pup feelings. This day had suddenly gotten better, and any thought of Rhys was thrown from his mind.


End file.
